ers. Place a priority on connecting with leaders who run depart-
ments with the highest injury rates. Consider creating a sharps safe-
ty email address, which staff can use to report sharps-related ques-
tions or concerns. You can use the address to send out sharps-relat-
ed safety tips and information about sharps injury rates.
Perioperative educators should hold regular sharps safety hud-
dles and educational events that cover topics such as injury pre-
vention in the perioperative setting and a review of AORN's recom-
mended practices for sharps safety.
5. Use safety sharps
Many surgeons still hesitate to use safety-engineered blades, believ-
ing the weight and feel of most available options are far too different
from traditional scalpels to be clinically effective. It's important to
note, however, that newer designs have addressed concerns about
form, function and feel, and are worth another look.
To help promote the use of safety sharps, launch a sharps excep-
tion program, which would require all department managers to sub-
mit a written request for using non-safe sharp devices. Make it clear
that managers must make every effort to identify a safe substitute
before sending a request. Exceptions should be granted only if a
safe sharp alternative is unavailable on the market or if standard
sharp devices would somehow let surgeons perform safer surgery.
A sharps exception program could increase collaboration among
departments and inspire conversation among all clinical staff as
they team up to identify procedures that use non-safety devices,
find safer alternatives, identify the challenges of using safety-engi-
neered devices and, only as a last resort, file an exception request.
Safe and confident
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